This invention relates generally to generators of electric current and more particularly to an electric generator having a pair of electrically interconnected disks counter rotating in an axially aligned magnetic field.
Faraday disks or homopolar generators are widely known as producers of large electrical currents at rather low DC voltages (U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,185,877, 3,465,187, 3,705,995, 4,097,758). Lesser known are simplified versions of these wherein the field source co-rotates with the conductive disk(s). Although this xe2x80x9cunipolarxe2x80x9d generator is a preferred embodiment (mimicking the action of the earth), it seems to present problems in textbook E-M theory (Crooks, Scanlon, Corson, Scanlon).
Extensive model construction and experimentation with various unipolar generator arrangements (U.S. Pat. No. 5,451,825) demonstrated that a preferred current path exists. In order to overcome the problems of low voltage and secondary field resistance found in prior art machines, the present invention utilizes a torroidial current path.
By electrically connecting (in a series) the inner end points and the outer endpoints of the segments of two segmented conductive disks, a torroidial current path may be achieved. Liquid metal is often used to collect current from unipolar machines (U.S. Pat. No. 3,185,877), however, a liquid brush would short circuit a disk with discrete electrical segments. Sliding contacts such as copper-impregnated carbon brushes (commonly used in conventional D.C. motor generators) could be used here, but the required number of them at both inner and outer radii would cause substantial mechanical drag. The preferred brush system here is a rolling brush system. Rolling brushes have been used in electrical machines for over 100 years (U.S. Pat. No. 530,717), yet they have never been used to interconnect two commutators as they are used in the present invention. For ease of construction, a lower current machine can be made using conductive balls, but tapered conductive pins are the preference for a higher current machine.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention is a machine that would generate electricity for industrial or consumer use. The present invention has been designed to meet growing demands for electrical energy by having a higher energy density and by utilizing recently discovered magnetic field phenomena. The present invention produces D.C. electricity by means of electromagnetic induction. The present invention is not a refinement of existing D.C. generator machines. The present invention is an entirely new configuration of inductive elements with respect to a primary field source. The most similar generator types are homopolar, acyclic, or unipolor generators. Unrecognized by most scientists is the unipolar generator. Any conductive permanent magnet spun on its axis of magnetization is a unipolar generator. The present invention is a complex version of a unipolar generator. By incorporating an intricate rolling brush-commutator and specially segmented disks, the present invention has a greatly increased voltage and substantially reduced back EMF over other unipolar generators.
The preferred embodiment of the improved voltage unipolar generator of the present invention utilizes a pair of electrically interconnected, counter-rotating, circumferentially segmented, conductive disks. Rolling contacts, such as conductive balls or tapered pins, are used to electrically interconnect the two counter-rotating disks in a manner that places the majority of the disks"" segments in an electrical series. An axially magnetized co-rotating, neodymium-iron-boron permanent magnet having a diameter similar to said disks is the preferred field source. A ferrite disk of appropriate thickness is placed opposite the field source to compress said disks and rolling contacts for optimized electrical interconnection and counter-rotation of said disk segments.